Red and blue are a highly evocative color pairing. Put them together, and you can’t help but think hot or cold. Or left and right. A map of red and blue, but not politics Ironically, their political symbolism is reversed on either side of the Atlantic. In the U.S., red states are to the right (figuratively, of course) of blue ones. In Europe and...

The wampus cat appeared in the American South, seemingly out of nowhere, at the turn of the 20th century. In the newspapers of the day, the frightening figment was, for most, nothing but a name associated with feral violence. In those early days of the 1900s, “wampus cat” was an epithet for the local ne’er do well in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a mascot...

It’s hard to imagine how a building as grand as the City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana, could ever become abandoned. Completed in 1926, the spectacular nine-story complex also included, at one time, a 1,000-seat theater, offices, a dining hall, and a gymnasium. Built at a cost of over $800,000—equivalent to over $14 million today—City Methodist...

In Latin, as well as in English, the toponym "Avernus" is synonymous with "hell" or "underworld." It comes from the name of a volcanic crater lake in Campania, Italy. It means "birdless" in Ancient Greek (áornos), likely named so for the toxic fumes seeping from the area, which is part of the Phlegraean Fields of active volcanoes. In ancient Roman...

It began when collector John Pottie found what he thought was a print of a game of billiards. Removing the art from the frame, he realized it was actually woven silk. How could such a small piece of art be created from fibers and a loom? The fascination ignited; soon the National Silk Art Museum was founded in the quaint winery town of Weston, Missouri. ...

Each week, Atlas Obscura is providing a new short excerpt from our upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders (September 17, 2024). You’re walking in the woods in Mozambique, humming to yourself. Suddenly, a small brown bird appears. You glimpse him in the trees ahead as he calls out: chatter-chatter-chatter-chatter! ...